Stand
by Kinnorite
Summary: One woman finds herself in a least-expected situtation after a lifetime of hard choices.


Prologue

* * *

><p>Mekherta found herself trembling on the burning sands of the Hatching Grounds. Despite the thick wherhide boots she was wearing, the soles of her feet were on fire. Sweat was making her skin moist, causing her rough, irritating robe to adhere to her skin. Her head was aching from deep humming of the multitude of dragons perched on the rims above her. Her senses were overwhelmed by all the stimulation around her.<p>

The mottled eggs in front of her eyes were twitching, almost as if the hatchling inside was bubbling with excitement. The fifty-or-so other candidates were pressed in around her, despite the Weyrling Master's instructions to spread out among the eggs. Weeks of preparation and training had come down to the early morning hatcing. Excitement was almost as palpable as the fear the candidates were experiencing as a whole group. The hissing of the enormous gold dragon wasn't helping the situation.

Asoreth was guarding her precious Queen egg. It was guarded like a treasure from the candidates. It was mottled with flecks of gold and twice the size of the other eggs half-buried in the sand. The Queen had built the gold egg up on a mound of sand, almost as if she was presenting it as a prized jewel for the Hatching ceremony to ogle at. Asoreth's rider, Junior Weyrwoman Gieria, was debating with her dragon on letting the Queen candidates come closer to the special egg.

In almost a heartbeat, the eggs had gone from twitching to a fevered rocking. The humming in the cavern took on a frenzied, ear-shattering pitch. The noise echoed all around the candidates. Then, it was if time paused and the world silenced. Mekherta had thought something had gone terribly wrong, when an egg almost in front of her exploded into a thousand shell fragments. She let out a shriek of terror as she stumbled backwards.

A wet, ugly creature was sprawled out in the sand where the egg had previously been. The creature took a few seconds to recover from its entrance into the world, and then shook the sand off to the best of its abilities. A collective sigh of relief was audible, and then wild cheering erupted from the crowd above. The bronze hatchling held his head high with dignity as he began his search for his rider. It seemed like eternity to Mekherta for one of the older male candidates to step forward to make the Impression, but in reality it was just a few seconds.

A few more minutes passed before the next egg hatched. It just wasn't one egg; all of them seemed to hatch at the same time. Greens, blues, browns, and bronzes descended in frenzy upon the candidates. Mekherta was entranced by the ugly newborns. They weren't quite sure of themselves, some crying piteously for their riders. Some were awkward with their gaits; their new found were throwing them off balance. The hot sand was being thrown all over candidates as hatchling waddled past them dragging their tails. Despite the stressful situation, Mekherta had to keep herself from giggling when a blue lost his balance in his haste to get to his rider, and landed flat on his nose.

Suddenly, in the chaos, Asoreth gave a loud, primitive hiss. Her precious daughter was coming into the world, despite all the objections of the Queen. Mekherta, and the rest of the Weyr, were held captive as they watched the golden egg crack right down the middle. A hatchling emerged from behind the fragments of the shell. The gold hatchling stood for a second, and touched her nose to her protective mother's. Finally, Asoreth gave a snort of satisfaction as she locked eyes with her daughter and stepped back from the hatchling to give her room to search.

It was hard to call any hatchling dainty or graceful in the minutes after birth, especially a gold hatchling, which is the largest of the clutch. She was entrancing though, the sheen of egg yolk only enhancing her golden hide. She was a muted shade of gold, somewhere in the middle of the color scheme. She was neither exceptionally large nor small for a gold hatchling. There was nothing particularly special about her, except that the gold hatchling knew exactly who she wanted for her rider from the moment she emerged.

Mekherta was shaking her head, backing away as soon as she realized that the Queen was coming for her. It was a mistake. Mekherta didn't deserve the honor of being a goldrider. She had lived the lifestyle of a greenrider; she had expected to Impress a green. Her candidate classes hadn't prepared her for this turn of events.

She found herself face to face with the Queen hatchling. The facets of the hatchling's eyes went from a dangerous red-orange to a happier blue-green. She crooned softly to Mekherta, inviting her to love her. The reluctant candidate met eyes with the hatchling, and Impression was made. Mekherta was oblivious to the heat, the other hatchlings, and even the reluctant cheering above them. The only thing that existed for her at the very moment was the gold in front of her.

_Mekherta_, whispered the hatchling telepathically, _Come. I am hungry. Won't you feed me? I have chosen you. We are meant to be together. Have no doubts. I chose the right rider for me!_ The gold began to nudge gently on her rider, edging her towards the edge of the Hatching Grounds where buckets of meat were awaiting the new hatchlings.

"Lisaeth," whispered the stunned rider. In a blur, she was feeding her new voracious weyrling. She was awed by the golden creature. She was having a hard time coming to terms with the fact her future was secure, wrapped up in the dragon. It was overwhelming to be encompassed in the unconditional love of a dragon after turns of emotional neglect.

How had a Lord Holder's whore, mother of two illegitimate children before she had turned seventeen turns, become a goldrider?

* * *

><p><em>Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed the short prologue. Writing is a stress-reliever to my full-time and part-time jobs, and college. I am not by any means trying to be a professional. It is just my hobby that I dabble in from time to time.<em>

Dragonriders of Pern is copyright of Anne McCaffrey.


End file.
